JakeAB
Member
I'm new at pen turning, and have done a lot of online reading about the drilling and milling of blanks. Being blissfully ignorant, I've wondered why I haven't seen much about a single jig that would do both drilling and milling. After all, the whole idea is to make the end of the blank perfectly square with the hole, so it seems that a single jig, which holds the blank in the same position for each operation, would do the trick with no extra effort. I suppose it is possible (okay, likely) that I just haven't read far enough, and such solutions have been discussed at length, but most of the discussions I've seen involve two completely separate processes (usually drilling on a drill press or lathe, and milling with a pen mill or disc sander jig).
Playing to my strengths (blissful ignorance, in this case), I made a jig loosely based on Rockler's Pen Blank Drilling Jig. But, instead of using it for just drilling, I also use it for milling. After drilling and gluing the tube in, I place the blank back in the jig (making sure to position it as it was during drilling), and then use a Forstner bit (which drills a nice, flat-bottomed hole) to do the milling. Because the jig ensures that the blank is positioned identically for each operation, the end is always square to the hole--it doesn't matter if the hole is not parallel to the blank.
I like this because it is simple and inexpensive--no disc sander, no $30 pen mill, no impossibly precise adjustments. Just two pieces of scrap wood, two drill bits, and a handful of hardware. Total cost, maybe about $12.00 (well, that and a drill press). Sure, the Forstner bit gets dull, but it can be sharpened, and at $6 can easily be replaced.
Has anyone tried this? This is too obvious a solution to be anything new. Maybe I'm just too new at this and not picky enough about the results, though my pens do seem to fit together just fine (truth or blissful ignorance?). But I would like to hear other people's thoughts and experiences with this.
Playing to my strengths (blissful ignorance, in this case), I made a jig loosely based on Rockler's Pen Blank Drilling Jig. But, instead of using it for just drilling, I also use it for milling. After drilling and gluing the tube in, I place the blank back in the jig (making sure to position it as it was during drilling), and then use a Forstner bit (which drills a nice, flat-bottomed hole) to do the milling. Because the jig ensures that the blank is positioned identically for each operation, the end is always square to the hole--it doesn't matter if the hole is not parallel to the blank.
I like this because it is simple and inexpensive--no disc sander, no $30 pen mill, no impossibly precise adjustments. Just two pieces of scrap wood, two drill bits, and a handful of hardware. Total cost, maybe about $12.00 (well, that and a drill press). Sure, the Forstner bit gets dull, but it can be sharpened, and at $6 can easily be replaced.
Has anyone tried this? This is too obvious a solution to be anything new. Maybe I'm just too new at this and not picky enough about the results, though my pens do seem to fit together just fine (truth or blissful ignorance?). But I would like to hear other people's thoughts and experiences with this.